The Blog Page for Northwest Arkansas Atheists

This Is a Call To My Christian Cohort

See, I’m not scared to quote this book. This is a great passage for the times from the second most famous book in the Pentateuch.

I am an openly antitheistic person. This means my writings and social media agenda is to bring data and evidence to reveal the superstitions we call religions, are likely harmful. It is also the stance theology isn’t a science, rather it seems to be propaganda through rationalization. I will debate and expose, research and write about this mission until my mind and fingers cease.

Yet, I beg, “Parlay!”

There is a much more pressing issue than the battle over afterlife potential and whether or not soul theory holds up. There is this very pressing issue of a new leader. Mr. President, Donald J. Trump.

None of my generation, in the United States anyhow, has lived through a situation quite like this. Never have so many messages of hate been on the tongues of the children I grew up with, beautiful children now adults. Most of us dealt with the racist jokes from our drunk-ass uncles, and others of us dealt with institutionalized racism in their daily lives. Yet, I think most of us felt the goal was, is, and will be to eliminate those caustic and antiquated environments. Equality for women always seemed to be a goal of society too; despite the objectifying jokes and contest like ass-grabbing many of my teenage peers and I participated in, there seemed to always be the overtone of growing out of that and holding women in the same respect we would any male peer. Not a single person I grew up with presented openly the desire to segregate, objectify, and control anyone. With good reason.

We grew up seeing the harms done to adults by adults who weren’t pursuing goals of equality. None of us wanted to be those people. I grew up in some rural areas. Even the angry, uneducated bumpkins that would call a Native American, or an Indonesian exchange student “nigger” were listening to rap music and cheering on Bo Jackson and Jerry Rice. Even then, I understood the reason they did it: to look cool to that drunk ass uncle, or to the peer group they thought might see them as cool or strong. I was a fat kid, people picked on me for those reasons too. I went to a mostly black school for a while too, which brought even more understanding of what it was like to be tortured and outcast just because I wasn’t like most of the other kids. Those events resulted in a lot of self-loathing, but I tried to realize that beyond it going both ways, it went every-ways.

I never lashed out at those bullies. Later in life, I would lash out at myself.

My antitheism has brought out much of the same prejudice. Isn’t it funny, no matter where it manifests, the language and methods of hate and division have been sung to the same tunes. This time, we have many more tools at our disposal.

We’ve the entire history of oppression as our moral map.

We’ve decades of psychological data on the effects of authority and megalomania.

We’ve billions of words on social media to communicate, organize, and share.

We’ve started realizing the damage of shame, abuse, and neglect.

We’ve begun to see the human brain and the mind which flows forth in great detail and understanding.

We are armed unlike any generation before us for just this battle. The wisdom is evident.

Authors like John Pavlovitz, who wrote “White, Conservative, Christian Friend—I Wish You Really Were Pro-Life,” or my friend and neighbor, Brian Brown. These two lads are religious. Yet, they’re morality surpasses the teachings of a bronze age collection. They’re morality stems from a basic understanding of human decency. They see their fellowship through the filter of religion, but that’s the thing, their fellowship is just that, the attempt to connect with fellow human beings. An engagement, interaction, and dedication to you, me, themselves—us. A dedication to quality of life, art, and freedom of existence. They don’t seek to establish rules for living, rather, they embrace all forms of compassionate existence. It is to them, and to those I haven’t met yet, I call.

I call for my Christian cohort. You all have access to minds, minds which would be instantly biased to me and any message I might carry. My hard determinism and antitheism marks me as an age-old enemy. But I am not that enemy.

There never was one.

We are faced with an enemy now though, and it isn’t really Trump in the end. It’s the platform of division and paranoia, the assault of greed and out-grouping which assails us. Sure, Trump is the current face and voice. But he is only a single man. At one time, the little boy inside of the man ran free, enchanted by all that enchant the toddler mind. Donald is a victim. And like many victimized and brainwashed militants, he does as he has been taught.

I call for my Christian cohort to stand with me. Let’s not let our diversity slip away. Let’s get back to arguing about what really fulfills the human “spirit:” kids, gods, equality, books, philosophy, art, education, families, football, and dinner. Hate, oppression, and greed have wasted enough of people’s time on this rock.